


the sun also rises

by fandomwolfx



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Mention of abuse, Season 2 Spec, mention of anxiety, mentions of other runaways, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 12:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomwolfx/pseuds/fandomwolfx
Summary: One loop, two loops, three loops.Gert watched herself as she pulled apart the wool of one of the already moth-bitten blankets, the thread count probably already under 100 before she started destroying it.Destroying things.Basically the only thing she’s good at (as well as being a liability and an anxious mess of course) . Way back in 4th grade she’d destroyed Karolina’s drawing because it was better than hers and Chase said it was the “coolest thing he’s ever seen”, she’d destroyed Molly’s chance of a normal childhood when she took her on the run, and she had even destroyed the groups plans of rescuing Karolina and chase by getting her own stupid self kidnapped- who ever would have thought that Gert Yorkes would end up being a damsel in distress.





	the sun also rises

**Author's Note:**

> so this was actually supposed to be a much longer season 2 speculation fic, but my life has got super busy and I don't think I'm going to get chance to finish it. So instead of it sitting in a folder unread I thought id publish it half finished anyway

One loop, two loops, three loops.

Gert watched herself as she pulled apart the wool of one of the already moth-bitten blankets, the thread count probably already under 100 before she started destroying it.

Destroying things. 

Basically the only thing she’s good at (as well as being a liability and an anxious mess of course) . Way back in 4th grade she’d destroyed Karolina’s drawing because it was better than hers and Chase said it was the “coolest thing he’s ever seen”, she’d destroyed Molly’s chance of a normal childhood when she took her on the run, and she had even destroyed the groups plans of rescuing Karolina and chase by getting her own stupid self kidnapped- who ever would have thought that Gert Yorkes would end up being a damsel in distress. 

Gert hadn’t realised she’d been biting her lips until a metallic taste coated her tongue causing her to retch in the process. Being on the run with Dale was a lot less luxurious than being on the run with the others. Which was why her lips were so dehydrated and cracked, why that no matter how many times she scrubbed her hand under the hostels lukewarm water; the dirt would not leave her fingernails and why her normally purple locks were now slowly be taking over by her brown roots. Her time with Dale was also the reason it took them so long to get Chase and Karolina back, as the group knew  Molly would be rendered useless until Gert (and old Lace) were back safely.

It seemed so weird to Gert that Chase was literally just in the room next door, yet felt so far away, like he was back at Atlas High flirting with Eiffel and laughing with his lacrosse friends at Gerts protest for a gender neutral bathroom - fuck she wonders if that ever get changed. 

Her eyes kept involuntarily glancing up at the rusted doorknob, her mind trying to decide whether to get up and see him now that he was finally back, or stay where she was safe and comfortable in her bed (well only moderately safe and comfortable - because after all,  this was a 40/50 year old mattress she had to sleep on to hide from her murderous parents ) her mind was being so loud arguing with itself that she didn’t even hear the clunky sound of the door knob turning or the creak of the old hinges.

“Hey… is it okay if i come in?”

However she definitely heard that voice; definitely recognised that fluttery feeling that came with said voice and was most definitely shocked by her own voice and its strained tone when she replied.

“Sure, yeah, I mean this was like your room a month ago anyway, so whatever” 

cool one second in and she’s already talking about their past relationship and the fact that he had left them: left her. Great start. 

“Yeah, I guess it was...” 

The smile that Chase tried to produce didn’t even convince himself, Gert swallowed a gasp as she realised that he’d lost so much weight over the last few weeks that his dimples had disappeared. In fact, most of him had gone. Where his t-shirts used to cling to his arm muscles, the sleeves now seemed to hang off him, his hair that was always so perfectly coiffed despite the lack of hair gel that she would always tease him about seemed matted down to his forehead, stuck with clammy cold skin, and she could see his ghastly hands grasping onto the handle like just standing up was too much effort.

“Chase, you look like you’re about to collapse please sit down okay” 

He cautiously made his way to the bed, the frame creaking under the weight of the situation. His hands automatically grabbed the hem of the blanket as he started pulling it apart, when Gert was off her meds she did this all the time- and hey if it helped calmed his nerves then he’d give anything a go.

One loops, two loops, three - 

Gert placed her hand over his to stop the fidgeting, spreading warmth over his clammy skin, he honestly wasn’t sure if she calmed his nerves or made them so much worse. 

“I know, I know it seems like I left-”

“Because you did” He felt her hand tremble on top of his but never pull away.

“It's just that I have such an odd relationship with my parents...” 

he paused as Gert let out a sigh, waiting a few seconds for her reply, never wanting to rush her, he didn’t before in their relationship and he certainly was not going to start now. 

“My parents are murderers too, and I didn’t leave” 

Now it was his time to pause, his thumb subconsciously drawing patterns against her palm; all the constellations she didn’t think he paid attention to during that night, when he tried to hide his feelings for her by messaging Eiffel, truly an idiotic move on his behalf. 

“My Dad, he used to hit us - me and my mom - her more than me though, but after the brain tumour he seemed almost ...good. So when I got that call off him, I thought maybe he wanted to turn over a new leaf or whatever- thought he wanted to spend time with me and urm not steal my energy for his own selfish gain. I-I thought he might of ended up being one of our parents who actually wasn’t a murderer, I was stupid.”  
Gert didn’t think her grip on Chases palm could get stronger, erratic tears falling onto the back of her hand, unsure whether they came from him or herself. 

She felt like an idiot, the extensive knowledge about injuries, constant self doubt about his own intelligence and the summer between ninth and tenth grade where he was so desperate to bulk up and learn how to fight after he came into school with a black eye from “falling over”.

“Baby, you weren't stupid okay-” she was interrupted by a mph from Chase 

“Hey no, I mean it okay you’re not stupid- you’re Chase Stein. You’re the one with a genius IQ of 170, you’re the one that created the fistagons and you’re the one that knew to give Old Lace the antidote that literally saved my life”

“Hey did you just basically call me your knight in shining armor”

“Definitely not” Gert huffed “Anyway, who was the one that managed to sneak everyone into pride to get you from that tube, technically I’m the knight in shining armor” this is good. This is humor, Gert can do that; suppressing emotions is basically her superpower.

“Gertrude Yorkes, my hero” 

this Gert couldn’t do. He was looking at her so earnestly and lovingly that she was sure she was gonna combust right there, and honestly what a way to go. She could feel the flush on her cheeks and was so desperate to hide it from him that she did the only thing she could think of and hugged him.

Well that was a mistake. She hadn’t even realised she’d fully hidden her face in neck until her lips brushed against his neck and she felt goosebumps erupt over the sliver of skin, and heard the involuntary gasp from Chase. The worst part being that if she could feel his goosebumps against her lips he could most definitely feel the blush from her cheeks against the crook of his shoulder. 

“Chase…” Gert slowly, excruciatingly, pulled her head from his shoulder and she was more than embarrassed to admit that she took a huge inhale when she did to breathe in the scent of him. More than embarrassed to admit that when she turned her head to face him she involuntarily leant forward- foreheads practically touching and the cold huff of his breath against her lips all she could focus on.   
Gert nearly jumped when Chase moved to caress the side of her face, his hands ghosted over her glasses and carefully slid them back up her nose as if a sudden move would cause her to flee. 

flee. Just like he did. 

She did jump this time, pulled back so quickly there noses knocked together.

“We cant do this” God just looking at his face whilst she said it almost made her take it back, but when she looked into those brown eyes all she could see was the detached and almost pitiful look they displayed when he rejected her sleepover at Molly’s birthday.

“ We need time okay? I’m not saying I don’t want to be with you -“

“Yeah, well you aren’t really depicting that too well right now” despite the situation Gert couldn’t stop herself from smirking- depict, was such a Gert word.

“Chase, we’ve only been together when were in imminent danger. I mean come on the first time we… got together” of course he would regain that twinkle in his eye when she mentioned that night: what a typical boy, “was because I thought I was going to die”

Gert immediately realised she’d basically insinuated that she only had sex with Chase because she didn’t want to die a virgin, and judging by the way his face fell when she said it she presumed thats what he thought she meant too. She stumbled forward again and took his face in her hands and tilted his chin back upwards, forcing him to look at her because she was not going to let him think that she wasn’t invested in their relationship and considered it a casual fling or whatever.

“Oh my God, no, Chase baby that is not what I meant okay- I just meant that we’ve never been a couple with a normal life with like double dates, or just normal dates really”

“is this you saying you want to go on a double date with wilder and that girl?”

“obviously not”

“good that would’ve been a deal breaker” he’s totally kidding, he’s pretty sure theres nothing Gert could do that would make him not want her. Chase could deal with this, rebuild their friendship, more importantly rebuild their trust and once they stopped chasing aliens and running away from murderous parents, he can finally be with the girl he’s had a major crush on since the third grade. 

“As much as I’d love to discuss Wilder’s love life” hey look Chase learned sarcasm from Gert too “ I should probably head back to the spare room”

Gert can’t lie her heart skips a beat at Chase calling it the “spare” room and not “his” room, implying that he still considers her room to be a place of refuge, and her heart pretty much stops altogether when he kisses her head before leaving the room.

He pauses at the door frame before turning back to wish her sweet dreams, and if she’s being honest she’s pretty sure her dreams tonight are going to be a bit more “sensual” than “sweet”. 

———


End file.
